As soon as it was safe, I turned towards Jennifer. “Do you want to tell me what the fuck you think you’re doing?”
She was so goddamn clueless that she didn’t even have the grace to flush. “Well, you weren’t texting me back,” she repeated.
“What for, Jennifer?”
Her brows furrowed, and she looked upset. “This is my future, too, Ross,” she said. “You haven’t reached out to me once since that night. How am I supposed to help you if you ignore me?”
“I don’t need your help, Jennifer,” I almost roared. “What don’t you get about that? Supporters only come into playifwe need you. If we don’t need you, why would we call you?”
“But…but Laney said-”
That whole seeing red thing was real.
“Laney said, what?”
“Well, she said she hangs out with August a lot, and that’s how she knows she doesn’t have to worry about being paid her due.”
I did my best not to put hands on this girl. “I need you to listen to me, Jennifer,” I hissed between clenched teeth. “Do not ever contact me again. If I need you, I will reach out to you. Understand?” Her eyes widened. “We arenotfriends. We aren’t anything.”
Not caring about what she had to say, I took off, my phone already in my hand.
Chapter 22
Sutton~
For the first time ever, I skipped an entire day’s worth of classes. After Mr. Custodia had escorted me to class, I had called Delta and had invited myself to her parents’ this weekend. Delta only had a couple of classes on Fridays, and she had already made arrangement with a couple of classmates for notes when she had made the plans to visit her parents.
Last night, Earl had been a peach and had let me crash at his place without prying. Drake had been a doll and hadn’t pried, either. We’d gone out to dinner, watched a movie, then they had set me up in their guest room.
The real shame had come when I had turned intothatgirl. I had internet-stalked Jennifer Polk, and I had no idea why we did that shit to ourselves. What was the point? As soon as I had entered her name into my first social media account, a beautiful blonde-haired, blue-eyed beauty had popped up, and for as beautiful as the picture had been, my stomach had turned sour.
Plus, not only did she have that perfect blonde hair, blue eye combination, she wore her makeup flawlessly with the hand of a professional. And if that weren’t enough, the girl had a hell of a figure on her. Whether store bought or natural, Jennifer Polk was rocking an hour-glass figure, and she was probably about as close to perfection as a girl could get.
And she had some sort of relationship with Ross.
After making my getaway, I’d driven straight home, pack a crazy person’s overnight bag, then had jumped in the car with Delta. She hadn’t said a word when we’d first headed out of town, but an hour into the drive, she had finally asked, and I had answered.
“I’m so sorry, Sutton,” she whispered. “I…don’t know what to say.”
I shrugged, still looking out the window. “There’s nothing to say,” I replied. “This is all my fault. I should have demanded more of an explanation, and I hadn’t.”
“You don’t really think he was cheating on you, do you?”
“It doesn’t matter, Delta. Secrets are secrets, and I can’t be with someone who’s comfortable keeping them.” I turned my head to look at her. “It was…it was like they were talking a completely different language, and I don’t think I’ve ever felt so stupid.” I straightened in my seat. “Actually, that’s not true. I was already feeling stupid when August had mentioned her. Right now, I’m just feeling humiliated for ever giving him a second chance.”
“Sutton, I-shit.” Her phone started ringing, and the screen showed that it was Malcolm. “Let me answer this really quick.” I just nodded, then went back to looking out the window. “Yeah, hey.”
“Am I on speaker?”
“I’m driving,” she said. “Hands-free.”
“Driving where?” he asked. “Shouldn’t you be on your way to class?” My heart twitched with how he knew her schedule.
“I’m actually driving to Couplet,” she told him. “I’m visiting my parents for the weekend.”
The silence was so loud that I turned at looked towards her phone to see if she was still connected on the call. Glancing at her, she shot me a grimaced look as she shrugged her shoulders.
Finally, Malcolm’s voice came back over the speaker. “Why didn’t you tell me you were taking off for the weekend?”